Practice Technology

Money-Making Game: ‘Second Life’ First?

A Canadian law firm claims to be the first to establish an office on Second Life, a 3D virtual community that has attracted millions of participants from all over the world. Davis LLP is staffing its Second Life office with lawyers from the firm’s Video Game law & Interactive Entertainment…

Sep 25, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

Shocking Story: Tasers Praised, Criticized

The jury is still out on the pros and cons of Tasers, which police praise as a safe and effective law enforcement tool but critics say can too easily be misused. But new technology may soon help resolve the dispute. After an incident at the University of Florida last week…

Sep 24, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

Divorce Practice Now a Surveillance War

High-tech surveillance tactics are now commonplace in divorce cases, changing the nature of matrimonial law practice. Soon-to-be-divorced spouses routinely steal each other’s BlackBerries and install snooping software on each other’s computers. This not only enables them to read each other’s e-mail but to monitor, in 15-second increments, what a perhaps-erring…

Sep 18, 2007 11:06 PM CDT

Fake Law Firm Web Site Mirrors Reality

A fake law firm Web site created to promote a new television legal drama at least arguably is uncomfortably close to some real-life versions. Streaming video makes the “Hewes & Associates” site difficult to navigate. The 15-year-old fictional Manhattan firm promotes itself in over-the-top (albeit satirical) terms as “one of…

Aug 23, 2007 8:50 PM CDT

Office Tech Must-Haves List for Lawyers

Many lawyers today already have personal laptop computers, scanners, smart phones and software that helps them bill their time and manage cases and documents. For those who don’t, now is the time to gear up and to get up to speed on such modern-day legal technology, according to Randy Kessler,…

Aug 20, 2007 8:13 PM CDT

‘Better Mousetrap’ Tallies Billable Hours

A Canadian software company claims to have built a better mousetrap to help American lawyers and others keep track of their billable hours. As the Montreal Gazette explains the concept, PensEra Knowledge Technologies has developed “a time-keeping system that lawyers can easily use to record their progress, either on their…

Aug 17, 2007 4:32 PM CDT

I Sync I Can

FolderShare solves big problems in sharing files digitally—and it’s free

Aug 1, 2007 12:37 PM CDT

Who’s Using Legal OnRamp?

A partial list of law firms participating in LegalOnRamp. Firms are based in the United States unless otherwise noted.

Aug 1, 2007 9:36 AM CDT

The Cost of Free

Don’t bet the firm on no- or low-price software

Aug 1, 2007 9:00 AM CDT

Court Fines Law Firm Over Spam Filter

Initially, the problem at a suburban Denver law firm was pornographic e-mail. Employees complained, and the office’s tech administrator was told to do something. He did. Dialing up the spam setting on the firm’s firewall solved the porn problem. But it also created a new issue, PC World reports. Shortly…

Jul 13, 2007 9:26 PM CDT

Law Firm Pays $150 K for Cell Service

Cell phones have become such a necessity in daily law practice that a major Washington, D.C., firm, anticipating reception problems, recently paid $150,000 to have cell signals boosted on three underground floors that included the library. And the cost would have been higher if the work hadn’t been done while…

Jul 3, 2007 10:11 PM CDT

A Lot of Room in Its View

Microsoft’s Vista stores much more data—and may affect the discovery process

Jul 2, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Law Hacks

101 tips, tricks and tools to make you a more productive, less stressed-out lawyer.

Jul 1, 2007 8:02 PM CDT

LexisNexis Sues Ex-Executive

LexisNexis is relying on a forensics examination of a former executive’s computer in a lawsuit alleging he violated a noncompete agreement. The information services company says it learned through filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Paul Colangelo, formerly vice president of sales for its Information Analytics Group, went…

Jun 28, 2007 1:56 PM CDT

New Site Will Rate Lawyers

A Seattle-based startup company is launching a Web site to help consumers find lawyers. The new company, Avvo, will rate listed lawyers on a 1-to-10 scale and post consumer comments, the Seattle Times reports. Avvo claims it lists every licensed attorney in Arizona; California; Washington, D.C; Georgia; Illinois; New York;…

Jun 5, 2007 5:34 PM CDT